counter

adj

Etymology: From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

1. Contrary or opposing

   “His carrying a knife was counter to my plan.”

   “He could not compel Mrs. Proudie to say that the report was untrue; nor could he condescend to make counter hits at her about her own daughter, as his wife would have done.”

adv

Etymology: From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

1. Contrary, in opposition; in an opposite direction.

   “running counter to all the rules of virtue”

2. In the wrong way; contrary to the right course.

   “a hound that runs counter”

   “She hated being pregnant; it ran counter to everything she wanted from her body”

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

1. Something opposite or contrary to something else.
2. A proactive defensive hold or move in reaction to a hold or move by one's opponent.

   “Always know a counter to any hold you try against your opponent.”

3. The overhanging stern of a vessel above the waterline, below and somewhat forward of the stern proper.
4. The piece of a shoe or a boot around the heel of the foot (above the heel of the shoe/boot).

   “Seymour, sitting in an old corduroy armchair across the room, a cigarette going, wearing a blue shirt, gray slacks, moccasins with the counters broken down, a shaving cut on the side of his face […]”

5. Alternative form of contra Formerly used to designate any under part which served for contrast to a principal part, but now used as equivalent to countertenor.
6. The breast of a horse; that part of a horse between the shoulders and under the neck.
7. The enclosed or partly closed negative space of a glyph.
8. An encounter.

   “with kindly counter under mimic shade”

9. counterattack

   “Arsenal lacked urgency and penetration in a lazy, lacklustre opening half, sucked in by Forest's strategy of sitting back in blocks of defence waiting to hit them on the counter.”

verb

Etymology: From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

1. To contradict, oppose.

   “I don't remember the conversation totally verbatim, yet I remember the tone — increasingly angry on my part, and flippant and snide on his. We countered back and forth at least three times.”

   “In a war of words that has broken out between Khan and Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, the Mayor was accused of sending revenue-raising proposals to Shapps some three weeks late, giving him little choice but to extend negotiations. Khan countered this by alleging that 'unfair' conditions, such as raising council tax, are being attached to any new funding deal that would "punish Londoners" for the effect the pandemic has had on passenger numbers. He added: "These short-term deals are trapping TfL on life support rather than putting it on the path to long-term sustainability."”

2. To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing.

   “His left hand countered provokingly.”

3. To take action in response to; to respond.

   “David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.”

4. To encounter.